Anything Together
by AxJJ
Summary: A new case drops in that hints to the real meaning behind the Stitchers program. Cameron is still reeling after his father's revelations and keeping Kirsten safe is harder than ever. Camille struggles with her feelings for Linus. Kirsten's stuck in the middle of everything.
1. Chapter 1

Previously:

"Right. The victim was found in one of the bedrooms on the floor next to the bed." Cameron fell silent, and Kirsten guessed that he was scrolling through the photos. She opened the door and emerged in her catsuit.

"What? No, it's not that, it's this." He held up the tablet to show her. "Lisa Smith worked for Richard and Julia Goodkin. My parents."

"I actually work with Cameron. That's also where we met." Kirsten said.

"So you're also a neuroscientist?"

"Actually I'm going for a doctorate in computer science."

"So you work in the IT department?" she scoffed.

She looked at the directory and quickly found the office. Knocking at the door, she found it open. Poking her head in, she found Jason Sampson on the floor in a pool of his own blood.

Kirsten was too shocked to do anything. He was kissing her. According to everyone else, this wasn't their first kiss, but their second. She didn't remember the first one. She started kissing him back, moving her hands up to his neck.

Kirsten rolled her eyes playfully. Cameron straightened and twirled her around in a circle, making her laugh. They were both smiling and laughing like idiots, dancing around like they were in a grand ball in the front yard.

Marcus was turning around when the glass snapped and Lee was holding a large sliver of the crystal like a knife.

"Lee, what-"

Lee shoved the shard of crystal into Marcus's ribcage, effectively cutting off anything he was about to say.

Kirsten flinched, feeling the pain Marcus did. Gasping, she typed in her pincode rapidly and bounced.

They barely made it to the apartment before she turned to Cameron and grabbed his shirt roughly and brought his lips to hers. He made a noise of surprise, but quickly wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her closer.

She had her fists clenching in his shirt, not letting him move an inch. His lips were warm and soft, and his hands were toying with the hem of her shirt in the back. He swiped her lip with his tongue, asking for entrance which she gladly granted.

Without breaking away, he opened the apartment door and pulled her inside, slamming it shut and pinning her against it.

A small part of her wondered if this was real. She hadn't been sure for the longest time that this is what she wanted, but now that it was happening it was all she cared about. Not dead housekeepers or lawyers or a stitch lab, but _Cameron_. This was exactly what she wanted.

There were multiple emails from one Richard Goodkin, with the subject title of 'private'. Kirsten clicked one open.

"Richard Goodkin knew about the murders. He was involved." The words came out in a rush, and his eyes widened.

"No way. My father is a class A douche, but he's not a murderer." Cameron said, taking a step back.

I can't tell you who started it or who is in it, but I can tell you why we started it." He paused, gathering his thoughts. "The poverty rate was increasing, and the upper class was declining. The bloodlines were becoming…diluted. Our children were marrying street rats and prostitutes instead of those that were rich and had good standing."

"So you decided to kill them for not having the right pedigree?" Fisher asked, disgust obvious in his voice.

"At first we didn't. We were a committee, and we called them in to tell them to stop seeing them or else. But after a while we were forced to take more drastic measures. The kids weren't taking us seriously, or just running off and abandoning the family completely."

Fisher ended up being able to get Lee Sampson convicted of First Degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder, and he ended up with a life sentence. They still didn't know who was actually behind the killings, but Lee and Richard were a big part of the mystery organization.

Richard Goodkin was convicted of conspiracy to commit murder and accessory to murder. He was sentenced to 25 years with the possibility of parole.

Cameron took Kirsten on their first date to a restaurant downtown, and there were many after that. Kirsten was happier than she ever remembered being. Cameron was a permanent fixture in her life, and she wouldn't have it any other way.


	2. Chapter 2

Cameron woke up with a start. He glanced around the darkened room, desperately searching for any sign of danger that would be lurking there, waiting to pounce.

His eyes fell on the sleeping blonde next to him. Kirsten was sound asleep beside him, her breathing even and slow. He closed his eyes and took a deep, calming breath. She was okay.

Every night for the past month or so he had been having nightmares. Ever since his father had revealed that he was part of some organization to keep upper class blood lines pure, Cameron worried about Kirsten. While they had pretended to date, his mother assumed that she had worked in the IT department of his job, which wasn't exactly a high paying job, even though it wasn't true.

Now that they were actually dating, the fear that some assassin was waiting to kill them was omnipresent. She was unfazed, as usual, but he was scared enough for the both of them. Kirsten was the most important person in his life, and if anything happened to her he could never forgive himself.

Trying to slow his breathing, he rolled over and pulled Kirsten closer to him. She sighed in her sleep, a small smile spreading across her face as she snuggled into his chest. The closeness was comforting, and he buried his face in her hair and inhaled her scent. She smelled like lavender and faintly like his cologne.

When he woke up again, the sun was shining. Kirsten was still wrapped in his arms, her head tucked under his chin.

"Good morning, sunshine." He mumbled into her hair.

"Morning," She sighed. "Do we have to get up?"

He smiled. "You ask that every morning, and every morning the answer is still yes."

Kirsten was definitely not a morning person. She may not be able to feel time, but she definitely hated being woken up.

"I don't want to." She buried her face in his chest.

"As much as I'd love to stay in bed with you all day -and believe me, the thought is tempting - I do value my job somewhat."

Kirsten mumbled something unintelligible and rolled away from him.

"I'll make us breakfast while you shower," he said, slipping on his glasses and standing up.

Kirsten crawled over and sat up, wrapping her long arms around his shoulders and kissing his neck from behind. "Are you sure you don't want to join?" she whispered in his ear.

Cameron shuddered slightly. "Don't tempt me," he replied, turning around and kissing her on the lips. "Then we'll really be late for work."

Kirsten released him and got off the bed and headed for the bathroom. Cameron smiled after her; the thought of joining her in the shower was almost _too_ tempting. But his stomach had other plans, so he went into the kitchen to whip up some pancakes.

As he worked on the pancakes, his thoughts drifted toward the Stitch lab. Since there had not been any alerts on a new sample, he would be helping Camille run simulations on the controls. She was a fast learner, and she had the magic touch when it came to guiding the sim Stitcher through the memories. He knew it hurt Linus's feelings, but lately he was becoming more and more supportive of it. All it took was for him to realize that his station on communications was just as important as anything else.

Kirsten was dressed in a white tank top and skinny jeans when she came out. She kept a drawer of clothes at his place now, since she often spent the night at his apartment. It had happened before he even realized it, and he never said anything for fear of scaring her.

He placed perfectly round pancakes in front of her.

"Pancakes?" she asked, picking up a fork and digging in. "You're spoiling me again."

"We can't have you Stitching on an empty stomach. Besides, you're worth it."

Kirsten smiled down at her pancakes, and it made his stomach do somersaults. They had been dating for almost two months now, and yet one of her smiles had the power to bring him to his knees.

He hadn't realized he was staring at her until his phone went off in his bedroom. He went in and grabbed both of their phones off the nightstand and returned to the kitchen where Kirsten was finishing up her pancakes quickly.

"I guess we do have a sample today," he said, unlocking his phone. "So much for a few simulations then home again."

Kirsten sighed and placed her dishes in the sink. "Duty calls."


	3. Chapter 3

Kirsten's favorite part of the day was waking up next to Cameron. She wasn't a morning person, but having him next to her made it worth it.

He was having nightmares again. He didn't know she knew, but when she woke up in his arms when she usually rolled away from him during the night. She had been meaning to confront him about it, but everything was perfect and she was scared of ruining it.

It was a bright sunny day. Cameron had the radio turned up in his convertible, and he was absentmindedly rubbing circles on her hand as he drove.

Kirsten was directed straight into the changing room as soon as they walked into the lab. She slipped into the form fitting suit easily, then joined everyone in the main area.

"The sample's name is Troy Jacobsen." Maggie said.

When no other information was offered, Kirsten asked, "What happened to him?"

Maggie didn't answer.

Kirsten climbed in the tank and laid down. Cameron ran through protocols, and Kirsten took a deep breath.

"Ready, princess?" Cameron asked.

"Always." She replied.

Troy Jacobsen's memory was surprisingly neat. Every memory was tucked away in chronological order.

The first memory was in a café in downtown LA. Troy was sitting outside at a small table, obviously waiting on someone. He was drinking a small coffee and scanning the passing crowd.

Kirsten was surprised to see Maggie walk up to him and sit down. She placed a manila envelope on the wire table.

"You know what this is, don't you?" Maggie asked.

Kirsten moved closer and looked over Troy's shoulder. The envelope was closed and sealed.

"And this is supposed to have the answers I was promised?" Troy asked, leaning forward and taking the envelope.

"That's something you have to decide for yourself." Maggie said, then stood up and left.

"Troy was at a café downtown. Maggie was there, and she gave him an envelope." Kirsten said into the comm. Link.

"Maggie knew Troy?" Cameron asked to no one in particular.

The memory changed. Now Kirsten and Troy were in the Stitch lab. There was no fish tank in the middle of the floor, and the technology was older. Troy was standing behind Cameron's station, adjusting the controls.

"He's in the lab, adjusting the controls for a Stitch, except there's no fish tank." Kirsten said.

"Is anyone else in the room with him?" Cameron asked.

Kirsten looked around. "No, he's alone."

Troy was typing on the computer when the memory changed suddenly. She was still in the lab, but this time there were people running around, as if preparing for a Stitch.

"They're preparing for a Stitch." Kirsten said.

A man walked into the room wearing a suit similar to Kirsten's. It covered his entire body, from his ankles to his neck. This time there was a tank for him to get in, but it strongly resembled a bucket instead of a tank. The man climbed in the tank. Troy was still at the controls, setting the memory map up for the Stitcher.

"There's a man in a Stitch suit, but there's no sampl-" Kirsten was cut off because two security guards dragged a man in, his mouth gagged and his hands and feet tied.

"Kirsten, you're heart rate's spiking. What's wrong?" Cameron asked.

Kirsten watched as they pulled the man into an old corpse cassette. The man was struggling, and she could feel that Troy was uncomfortable.

"There's a sample." She said, taking a deep breath. "He's alive."

There was silence on the other side of the comm.

After a few heartbeats, Cameron said: "Kirsten, bounce."

"What?" she watched as the man was injected with a syringe and closed into the cassette.

"Bounce. Or I'll make you." Cameron's voice was hard and forced.

"Cameron? What's going on?"

Instead of waiting for an answer, Kirsten bounced out of Troy's head and turned around. Maggie was standing next to Cameron, her face a cold mask. Cameron looked angry, but his eyes were sad.

"What was that?" Kirsten demanded angrily. "I had time left!"

"You were not meant to see that." Maggie said coldly. "I had no choice but to get you out of there."

Kirsten glared at Cameron. "You were going to bounce me by force?"

"She threatened me!" He said defensively. "I had no choice!"

Kirsten got out of the tank and dried off. "So nobody had a choice here." She said sarcastically. "So you threatened my consciousness to give me a vague answer?"

Maggie was starting to get angry too. "It wasn't my idea. There are secrets at stake- secrets even I don't know the answer too."

Kirsten glared at her, thinking of what to say next. She was going to threaten Cameron and then tell her she had no choice? Kirsten had been angry before, but now she was livid. She was tired of vague answers and empty threats.


	4. Chapter 4

Cameron

He had no idea what the Stitchers program was supposed to end up becoming. That was a secret kept at the highest level; he wasn't even sure that Les knew. He had a suspicious that Troy Jacobsen had something to do with secret government work when they brought him in and Maggie directed Linus to map out the memories practically blind.

Cameron knew Kirsten would be angry that she had little information on the sample. She hated not knowing things. She would get angry with him if he didn't tell her where he was taking her for dinner. It was one of the things that made Kirsten, Kirsten.

When Kirsten started seeing Troy in the Stitch lab with live samples, he was just as curious as she was. However, Maggie was not. As soon as Kirsten said "he's alive", Maggie was all over him. At first there were just meaningless statements like "you aren't supposed to see this" or "Les won't be happy". As the Stitch progressed, Maggie became increasingly worried and upset. She started threatening him if he didn't tell Kirsten to Stitch.

At first he had ignored the threats of being fired or suspending him. He didn't care whether he stayed in the program. Sure, he loved what he did. He gave up MIT for this. He was making cutting edge discoveries in this lab, and the scientist inside him jumped for joy at the prospect of breaking the barriers of consciousness. But the family of Troy Jacobsen deserved answers.

It wasn't until Maggie made a real threat that he was forced to tell Kirsten to bounce. Even if she didn't mean it, it wasn't worth risking. Every part of him screamed to not tell Kirsten to bounce. She still had three minutes left. It was plenty of time to see the murderer. Kirsten would know something was up, and she would be upset.

And boy, was she upset. He had never seen Kirsten so angry with him. Or anyone, for that matter. She practically flung herself out of the fish tank and stared him down. Her glare gave him chills- more than usual. He could practically feel the daggers she was shooting at him with her eyes.

"What was that?" she demanded.

He had no idea what happened, honestly. He was forced into it. He stayed quiet for as long as possible.

"You were going to bounce me by force?"

No, he wasn't. He would rather die than do that to her. But it did make her bounce. "She threatened me! I had no choice!"

That only made Kirsten angrier. Cameron knew it was best to just leave her alone. Maggie wasn't helping the situation.

After Kirsten left to change, Cameron confronted Maggie.

"What exactly are you trying to keep covered?" He asked, joining her on the balcony as she overlooked the lab.

"I can't tell you that."

"Why did you bring in Troy Jacobsen if we can't even Stitch into him?"

"I don't choose our samples. You know that. The higher ups send them in and we do as we're told." Maggie snapped, turning to face him.

Cameron was tired of vague answers, just like Kirsten. He was tired of feeling constantly out of the loop with everyone and everything. Always one step behind.

Something in him snapped. "Let me make something clear." He growled, his voice low. Maggie looked surprised at the change in tone. "Don't _ever_ threaten me like that again, or you can find someone else to run the Stitch." With that he spun on his heel and returned to his desk.

Cameron could feel Maggie's gaze as she watched him go back to his desk. He didn't care if it was disrespectful. Normally, Cameron prided himself in being non-confrontational in all things. But this time, he couldn't help it. He had to make his point clear.

When Kirsten returned, they all met in the conference room. Maggie had Troy's file pictured on the screen. Kirsten sat in front of him, her arms crossed and her face a cold mask. He could practically feel the anger radiate off her. She refused to look at him, and when he placed his hand on her arm she shrugged it off. He was hurt, but he also understood.

"Why did you make me bounce out of Troy?" she asked again.

"There were things you weren't supposed to see."

"Then why bring him in?"

"It wasn't my decision! I don't choose the samples that we Stitch into."

"Even if you didn't choose, the memories _should_ have been mapped correctly." Kirsten glared at Linus, who put his hands up defensively.

"Hey, don't look at me! I was mapping practically blind!" Linus said.

"So all of this is a mixture of "it's not my fault" and "I had no choice", right?" Camille asked, rolling her eyes.

All three of them turned their icy gazes on her, and Cameron almost laughed at the scared look on her face.

"What? It's true! If anything, this is our mysterious leader's fault."

He could practically see Kirsten think about this. Cameron had considered this already. Les Turner knew exactly what the Stitchers program was for. He also knew about Kirsten's mysterious past. Cameron didn't trust the guy.

"Les Turner is untouchable. Even if we could talk to him, how would we get any information out of him?" Cameron said.

"We have to talk to him somehow." Kirsten said. She had the same look in her eye that she always had when she was about to do something stupid, and ultimately drag him into it.

"I do not like where this is going." He mumbled.

Just like he predicted, Kirsten stood up and walked out of the conference room. He sighed, then got up to follow her out. The elevator ride was silent, both of them stuck in their own thoughts. Cameron drove her back to his apartment, and she was quiet then too, even when he tried to talk to her.

"Are you ever going to speak to me again?" he half-joked when they got to the apartment.

Kirsten rolled her eyes from her place at the kitchen table.

"Look, I wasn't going to actually bounce you manually." He said in all seriousness.

"It sure seemed like it." She finally said, her face still a cold mask.

"Do you really think I would do that to you?"

"I don't know anything anymore!" she yelled, making him jump.

"Maggie threatened me! I knew there would be no other way to make you bounce!"

"Maybe if you just told me what was going on, I would have!"

"How could I have told you what was going on when I didn't even know myself?"

Kirsten stood up and crossed her arms. "You knew _something_."

"I knew that you're too stubborn to listen to me even when it's for your own good!"

"What could she have threatened you with that would make you threaten me?"

Cameron hesitated. There was really no reason to hesitate; they were in a relationship now. But out of habit he paused.

"She threatened to make you disappear for _good_. Forever. She threatened to take you off the map completely. I don't know if that meant killing you or not, but I knew that it would mean that I'd lose you forever." The words came out in a rush. "I can't lose you, Kirsten. Ever."

Kirsten only looked upset. The look on her face reminded him of a child who was told that their favorite stuffed animal was destroyed in the washer or left on a bus.

"I'm sorry," he said softly, moving closer to her and cupping her cheek gently. "I was never going to hurt you."

"I know." She whispered, leaning into his hand. "I just don't know anything else. It's all so confusing."

"We can figure it out together." He said, kissing her gently.

Kirsten nodded and pulled away, turning back to the table where her laptop sat open. "I guess we better get started."


End file.
